Hear that? It’s Passat’s swan song playing in the US.
Volkswagen has reportedly decided to kill the Passat sedan to prefer SUVs and crossovers in the American market. Currently being built at VW’s Chattanooga and Tennessee plants, the Passat will cease production in 2023. Fortunately, this is not the end for the manufacturing plants. All attention will instead be conveyed to crossovers and SUVs like the VW Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport. Moreover, the German automaker plans to invest $800 million in its Chattanooga plant for a major infrastructure upgrade allowing the facility to manufacture the all-electric ID.4.
According to Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter, the major reason to sack its trademark mid-size sedan is declining sales figures. The US market is showing strong affection for SUV models, which affects sales of other body types. “We’ve made a decision to cancel the Passat for the US later in the decade,” said Ralf in a statement.
The Passat is still fresh in the US after it received a significant overhaul for the 2020 model year. So it would be safe to assume that Volkswagen will not give any major upgrades to the outgoing sedan for the remaining two years on the market.
Notwithstanding the upcoming end in the United-States, the ninth-generation Passat will still be manufactured and sold in other markets such as Europe and China.
The VW Passat is the latest victim of the growing popularity of SUVs worldwide. To meet customer demand, manufacturers are forced to make more SUVs, so even staple products like the VW Passat are no longer safe.
